Work must be very painful for you to quit your job in a fit of frustration or rage. You might want to rethink alternatives and implications rather than make a quick decision. Your future and that of your family needs to be considered. Here are some thoughts:
- Even if you’re independently wealthy, the questions from future interviewers will be: “Why did you leave your last employment, how long have you been unemployed, and have you fallen behind up-to-date technology?” Hiring managers will be thinking, “If this candidate can dump another company, leaving the manager in a lurch, will he/she do the same to me?”
- Even if you don’t see any alternative, I strongly advise against quitting on the spot. Why would you consider it in the first place? Some reasons: You experience illegal activities, sexual harassment, immoral or unethical behavior, and so on. Talk with an attorney first. Unless there’s a witness or indisputable proof, you’ll be at a disadvantage while interviewing with a new employer. What would you say that will be credible or provable? There are, however, other ways to leave your current job.
- Consider one of three options: Ask for vacation time or a leave of absence in order to put a plan of action into place; ask for a transfer to another part of the company; or check out the marketplace to assess your marketability and the supply/demand equation.
- Finding a new job while you currently have a job is preferable because there isn’t a time gap between employers; you sill have an income, health benefits, and insurances; there is continuity in your career rather than a step down or a lateral shift; you don’t want to leave a very angry organization that will not be a good reference for you down the road.
- If you do quit hastily, how do you talk through a gap in your resume? What can you say? Here are a few alternatives that have helped others: (all are true)
- Getting a degree or a succession of certifications in a technology within your function that you could not have gotten while working.
- The need to support your parents or immediate family through a health issue that had to be worked through immediately, for less than a year.
- Extended travel to a geographical region (Europe, Mideast, Asia) to gain proficiency and understanding of a culture and language to establish international credentials
- The time demands and job pressures would have caused a mild “burn out” if the job had not been altered. You would have been unable to continue high performance and your value would have declined precipitously.
Sometimes staying on a bad job is exhausting and could affect your health. But you need a plan. How you leave a job is as important as entering a new one. Your decision needs to be made through the prism of the future, not the past.
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